


A Cross of Red and Yellow

by alienfairyprincess



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A fairytale but make it gay as fuck, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Legends of King Arthur, M/M, Work In Progress, fairytale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienfairyprincess/pseuds/alienfairyprincess
Summary: Knights! Castles! Immortal fae creatures of dubious morality!A Wolfstar retelling of one of my favorite stories from Howard Pyle's version of the Legends of King Arthur (currently a very early wip).
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 7





	1. Introduction

Forests are queer places at night. Filtering moonlight shivers sullenly among the leaves. Water drips with pointed noise from some hidden source. Creatures of indeterminate size form fleetingly before melting into shadow. Eye-lanterns gleam questioningly before shuttering in disinterest.

An intruder would feel themselves simultaneously closely watched and utterly isolated.

Like the only living thing in existence.

Like the only living thing, but a thing imprisoned in a glass test-tube. The scientists whose experiment you are may be absent, yet their desire to turn you inside out and find what you’re made of remains.

The fae that live in ancient forests such as this are not scientists. Not in the strict human sense of the word. But they are curious. Deadly curious. About anything or anyone which they do not understand.  
  


Two children were lost in one of these forests in the same year. One escaped whole, never meeting its inhabitants, the other was lost forever. This is their story.

_Forests are queer places at night. And you, oh human wanderer, you are the queerest thing they’ve seen._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story begins! I'd love to hear what you think if you took the time to read this!

The squirrels of Arden Wood are depressingly boring creatures. They run up and down the trees, up and down, caring not for wanderers human or otherwise who enter their domain. Caring not, save if the wanderer possess food.

A child, lost in the woods. Curled under a tree.

Disappointing child, according to one particularly brave squirrel that had jumped down next to his unmoving form, didn’t carry food. Did have clothes that were far too fine to make his current activity of being-unconscious, not that the squirrels wanted those.

The child was a wanderer in the truest sense, possessing no particular destination but only the desperate feeling that _anywhere was better than there._

His name was Sirius Orion Black.

His father, the king of a certain micro-kingdom and the castle that guarded it, was dead.

Not that he found that particularly sad, his father was horrible.

His father was horrible, but his mother was worse.

He’d originally struck out through the forest, attempting to find his way to the castle at which his uncle Alphard lived. He’d visited that uncle a few times with his father and in his child-brain considered wherever he was a safe place to be, and also considered himself capable of just walking there. He’d of course vastly underestimated the distance and density of the forest surrounding the only clear road he knew of through the forest. He’d brought what food and water he could carry originally, but that had quickly run out. He’d kept walking, and walking, for what felt like days although he’d lost track. At first he’d been scared to sleep for fear of the creatures in the fairy stories his nursemaid had told him. Then, he’d just been too exhausted to care.

…

 _Horns_.

…

 _Hunting Horns_.

The sound woke him. Sirius half-opened his eyes to find himself lying at the base of a tree at what seemed to be the very edge of the forest. The sparseness of the trees had not been visible to him in the darkness, but now it was clear that he had escaped somehow. He had escaped both his family and dark-crowded trees. Where he had ended up he had no clue.

 _Horns_.

They were closer now, accompanied by horses’ hooves and the baying of dogs. If he had been more conscious, Sirius might have shrank in fear that it was a search party sent by his mother. He might have tried to hide or at least make himself less visible. But he was far too exhausted and malnourished to manage any of that, as someone rode into his clearing.

“Oh!”

A voice, that of a child.

Sirius managed to drag himself up into a seated position to see a boy of about his age, mounted on a pony. He was clad in fine wool with the crest of his family broidered on his chest. His unruly hair and soft, brown skin glowed in the early-morning sunlight. The boy quickly dismounted.

“Who’re you?”

“Sirius.” Sirius managed, his throat unbearably dry.

“I’m James. Are you ok?” Sirius attempted to speak again but found he couldn’t. “My parents’ll be here soon, they can help.”

James.

As he drifted back into unconsciousness, Sirius wondered whether they’d be friends.

* * *

Fifteen years later, those two were inseparable. James’ family had practically adopted Sirius after that morning in the woods – much to the Blacks’ ire -

“And then, and you won’t believe this.” James’ eyes were bright and sparking as he paused his story to take a gulp of ale. “She had a bloody dragon! An entire dragon! Thought she was nice at first but apparently she was just leading me on because she likes feeding wandering knights to her pet.” He shrugged. “I have terrible luck with women.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “If you’d stop pursuing redheads who hate your guts I think you’d have more luck mate.”

James groaned. “And how fares the beautiful Lily of Evans?”

“Terrifying as always, last I heard.” Sirius drained his mug, “Still hasn’t convinced the King to knight her but a little thing like that won’t stop her.”

“She bested me in a joust once,” James’ eyes turned dreamy. “at the Queen’s birthday celebration.”

“As I remember, her spear hit your shield so squarely that you fell off your horse and complained about the bruise on your ass for weeks.”

James called for another mug of ale with a grin. “Yes, so I did.”

They drank in comfortable silence for a few minutes before James spoke again. “So tell me of your adventures, did you meet Moony again?”

Sirius shook his head. “The first time was an accident I would not want to repeat. You know I don’t like forests.”

James clasped his shoulder reassuringly.

* * *

Nearly a year previous, Sirius had again found himself lost in the woods at night. It had felt too familiar, too helpless.

_He had hated every second of it._

The worst part was being alone. After those half-remembered delirious days as a child, he’d done his best to avoid that feeling.

Well, at least the moonlight was strong enough to see by.

He kicked at a stick and wondered whether he should stop walking and wait til morning. What was it you were supposed to do when you lost your way in a forest?

Phone a friend?

Whatever it was, he’d forgotten.

He walked aimlessly for a few minutes more before catching something moving in the shadows to his left.

 _Fuck_.

He drew his sword and put his back to a tree as a figure stepped into the light.

It was a man. Tall, angular, with hair that curled softly about his temples. At first glance he looked human, if a bit thin. But at second glance, if you looked just a second too long, little parts of his appearance felt _wrong_. His limbs were just _slightly_ longer than they should be. The veins that crossed his sunken cheeks appeared not blue but white. His skin was almost translucent. His eyes caught the moonlight with an uncanny, golden hue, if you stared just a second too long.

_If you blinked-_

He looked human, if a bit thin.

_The fairy-stories were true after all._

Feeling slightly better at the apparition of a clearly non-human entity was _probably_ a sign that Sirius hadn’t gotten over his childhood trauma.

The man spoke, his voice distant and slightly mocking. “A sword? Really? If you know what I am then you know that won’t work.”

Yeah, Sirius had realized the sword was probably useless about three seconds after he’d drawn it. He replaced it in its scabbard.

The creature’s eyes traveled over Sirius, noting his chainmail and crest. He cocked his head. “Give me your name?”

A huffed laugh, “I know what you are and so cannot give it you. You may call me Padfoot.”

“Odd title.” His gaze returned to Sirius’ face.

“Long story.”

They both stood silent for a moment, at rather an impasse.

“What may I call you?” Sirius shifted, the other’s glowing yellow eyes unnerving him.

The creature looked upwards for a second, his face framed by the nightlight filtering through the forest. “Moon.” He paused, eyes narrowing. “Why have you wandered so far from the humans’ path?”

“In search of adventure.” He grinned. In fact, Sirius’ horse had startled and thrown him, and in looking for it he had gotten lost, but that was far less interesting.

Moon turned and took a step away, speaking over his shoulder. “You will find no adventure here. If you seek no favor from the fae you should leave.”

Sirius took a step forward. The truth was, he was well and truly lost, but also, for some reason he very much did not want this stranger to leave. It must be that he’d never met with a fae before, he reasoned. “No adventure at all? That seems unlikely - I have already met you.”

Moon turned back and narrowed his eyes, showing his teeth in a rough approximation of a smile. The expression pulled unnaturally across his skin, revealing teeth a cut too sharp and a shade too white. “Do you truly think it wise to voluntarily trade words with me, human?”

“‘Wise’ is not a word oft applied to me, Moony.”

Moon let out a choked sound that could have been a laugh. “So I see.”

_Maybe he’d lied._

_Maybe he hadn’t hated every second of it._

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I identify as queer, yes, I took full advantage of the unearthly fae vibe of the word in classic literature to make a pun out of this introduction because this whole story is going to be queer as fuck


End file.
